Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

(CNN) -- At least 14 people were killed and 50 wounded when a gunman opened fire during an early Friday morning screening of the new Batman movie at an Aurora, Colorado, theater, Police Chief Dan Oates told reporters.
The heavily armed suspect, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was apprehended by police in a rear parking lot of the theater, Frank Fania, a police spokesman told CNN. The identity of the suspect has not immediately been released.
"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," Fania said. Police seized a rifle and a handgun from the suspect, and another gun was found in the theater, he said.
KMGH: Mass shooting inside Auroa movie theater
Witness saw little girl who wasn't moving Video: Chaos at theater shooting scene Police describe Batman shooting scene
Oates said there was no evidence of a second gunman.
The mass shooting occurred during the showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" at the Century Aurora 16 theater, police and witnesses said.
"We saw people running around and screaming," a man, who was not identified, told CNN affiliate KUSA.
KUSA: One person in custody
He said there was confusion in the theater when the shooting began because many believed the sound of gunfire was coming from the movie.
Oates said that the suspect used some sort of "smoke device" before opening fire in the theater.
Witnesses, however, told KUSA that the gunman kicked in an emergency exit door and threw a smoke bomb into the darkened theater before opening fire.
KWGN: Witnesses first thought gunfire was part of movie
Of the wounded, at least 20 were being treated at the University of Colorado Hospital, said spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery. All of the wounded suffered from gunshot wounds, which ranged from minor to critical, she said.
"They're arriving by police, by ambulance. Some are walking in," she said.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Who the hell pulls out their cell phone to capture video of chaos in something like this? I mean I've never been in a situation like this, but I can't imagine one of my first instincts being to film it with my cell phone.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

This is incredibly fucked up and sad. Both the shooting and the filming and the uploading to youtube are horrible indictment on society. I have to believe a "healthy" person does neither of those things.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Originally Posted by nathanfairchild

that's not true at all.

Swift.

If that's not clear, I'm a very happy gun owner. Just the other day a friend with basic gun safety. They had a loaded firearm that they didn't even know was loaded. Education would go much further than a gun ban.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Boyfriend and I have evacuated safe and sound. The shooting began during a gunfight scene in the movie, and at first, we thought it was special effects when smoke rose up. When shots happened again and people began to run, we thought something was up. A guy ran in and shouted there was a gunman in the building, and the alarms to emergency evacuate started to go off.
I now know what tear gas feels like. I've never had to 'get down' with a police officer screaming at us. This is the most fucked up night of my short life. I need an army of kitten photos stat.http://whotalking.com/Century+16
[Edit] Thank you for the well wishes everyone. Heart is still racing, especially reading up on it still. Apparently, not long after we evacuated the premises, an explosion went off, and the death toll has risen to 12, with 20 more injured: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/36...o-shooting.htm
[Edit 2] This blew up really quickly. While this is not the way that I would have liked to make it to the front page, I'm happy that reddit has reacted in such a way to keep everyone, including myself, up to date. I'm trying to read all comments, so if I accidentally skip over yours, in advance, I apologize.
[Edit 3] I feel like I should answer a few questions that are being repeated in the comments.
-While we thought that there was a gunman in our theater when we heard the shots, it turns out it was just one gunman in the theater over, and the shots came through the wall into ours. It sounded like pistol shots at first, and we saw smoke rising, creating immediate confusion as to whether it was a theater stunt for the film or if something was terribly wrong.
-We were located near the top of the theater and were able to exit safely through the second story exit. When we got onto the balcony we saw police in the lobby with shotguns. They told us to stay low and make our way quickly to the stairs to exit the theater.
-The reason we didn't go to the high school when we evacuated was because we were one of the first to evacuate. As we were leaving the theater, some people from other cinemas were standing around, still confused and had no idea there was even an gunman inside. After getting permission from a police officer, we managed to get out of the parking lot and go straight home before they blockaded it to let the emergency vehicles through.
-No, I wasn't karma whoring. If I seem(ed) insensitive, it's because I have never been in a situation like this before, I was/am in shock, and had no idea what to do. This morning I am responding to a flood of texts. As for the karma whoring allegation: http://imgur.com/2xMqg
P.S Fandango just emailed me asking to review the movie: http://imgur.com/V9g4Z
If I am acting insensitively I apologize, I suppose it's just how I deal with things. I am an awkward person.
And finally, for everyone calling me a terrible person: http://imgur.com/gWw2l

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Originally Posted by PlayaDelWes

I'm pretty sure this guy knew they were loaded.

He also had a complete lack of respect for, well, everything. Including the guns he had. I've read three articles on this so far, anyone see anything about these guns being properly registered? I have not.

Originally Posted by sonofhal

I'm pretty sure it's a lot harder to go on a shooting spree without a gun.

It's also harder to get a legal gun than it is to get an illegal gun. Drugs-Legal. Guns-Illegal. Right. Either way, it's a senseless argument, they're not being taken away. Lets argue abortion next.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

The childless 20-something year olds on the board who find a 50 something year old man fucking teenage prostitutes distasteful will probably change the hum of their tune once they produce babies, definitely. That's the missing link.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

PS - Can we get a headcount from the Denver contingent?

Originally Posted by guedita

The childless 20-something year olds on the board who find a 50 something year old man fucking teenage prostitutes distasteful will probably change the hum of their tune once they produce babies, definitely. That's the missing link.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

It shows you how fucking much the NRA has already won when the majority of people "politicizing" it at this point are people who are preemptively suggesting things to the effect of "it will be an outrage if anyone attempts to use this tragedy as an excuse to take away gun rights."

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Originally Posted by Tubesock Shakur

The blame is going to hit Rush like a ton of bricks. Also Aurora is a shithole.

While I'm no fan of the asshole, I certainly hope nobody makes that leap. Would be as irresponsible as the time when people thought the guy who shot Gabi Giffords was inspired by Sarah Palin's rhetoric.

Originally Posted by marooko

He also had a complete lack of respect for, well, everything. Including the guns he had. I've read three articles on this so far, anyone see anything about these guns being properly registered? I have not.

Yeah, because they would've been able to access that information in the last 8 hours. Not to say they were, just that it's stupid to suggest they weren't because you haven't seen mention of whether they were registered just hours after the shooting occurred, and in the wee hours of the morning at that.

Originally Posted by guedita

In his defense I do remember there being an upsurge of black coworker on white coworker exlaxings in LA after Rodney King.

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

Originally Posted by Somewhat Damaged

While I'm no fan of the asshole, I certainly hope nobody makes that leap. Would be as irresponsible as the time when people thought the guy who shot Gabi Giffords was inspired by Sarah Palin's rhetoric.

Yeah, because they would've been able to access that information in the last 8 hours. Not to say they were, just that it's stupid to suggest they weren't because you haven't seen mention of whether they were registered just hours after the shooting occurred, and in the wee hours of the morning at that.

It's a catalyst I'm not blaming rush but I do think he has a role in it. Why does a psychopath choose a predominantly black theater and of all movies the dark night to shoot up?

Re: Dark Knight movie theater shooting in Denver

technically it's true that without guns there would be no gun violence, but that's the same as saying there would be no vehicle related deaths if people didn't have cars.

It's not technically true. It's true. Without guns, it's not possible to have a mass shooting.

There would still be vehicle related deaths. Cars are not the only vehicle. Cars are also designed to do something besides kill. Whether they are used for another purpose, a gun's primary purpose is to end something's life. This shouldn't be an arguable point, and it's pretty sad that it is.